Fluid control mechanism



United States Patent [72] Inventor Otmar M. Ulbing Berkshire, N.Y.

[21] Appl. No. 748,781

[22] Filed July 30, 1968 Continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 645,644, June 13, 1967, Patent No. 3,421,737

Dec. 15, 1970 Ingersoll-Rand Company New York, N.Y.

a corporation of New Jersey [45] Patented [73] Assignee [54] FLUID CONTROL MECHANISM 4 Claims, 8 Drawing Figs. 2

[52] 11.8. C1 l37/625.25, 254/ l 68;186

[51] Int. Cl F16k 11/02 [50] Field of Search 137/6252,

7 186 [56] References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 2,448,649 9/1948 Adams et al. 137/6252 2,471,285 5/1949 Rice 137/625.68 2,560,841 7/1951 Bishop... 251/281X 2,601,966 7/1952 Busick l37/625.42X 2,752,945 7/1956 Patterson et a1. 137/6252 3,095,897 7/1963 Pennstrom 25l/282X 3,136,336 6/1964 Priesmeyerm, 251/175X 3,329,168 7/1967 Vollmer 251/175X 3,338,268 8/1967 Houser et al 137/625.25X

Primary Examiner-Henry T. Klinksiek Attorneys-Carl R. Horten and David W Tibbott ABSTRACT: A balancing hoist containing a fluid pressure-- operated drum for balancing a suspended load and fed from a pilot-operated pressure regulator connected to an air supply and a control system containing means for automatically maintaining the pilot air pressure at a predetermined selected magnitude by throttling the pressure from the air supply and venting it to reduce the pressure to the desired pilot air pressure. The control system includes a pendant control member having a movable cup-shaped flexible valve for shifting the pilot air to a plurality of selected pressures.

. PATENTEDUECISIQYG 354K155 sum 2 OF 2 SUPPLY 36 I l 1 PILOT OPERATED 37 REGULATOR VALVE 43 2 5 I5 40 44 FIG. 7

. INVENTOR 54 OTMAR M. ULBING ATTORNEY FLUID CONTROL MECHANISM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This application is a continuation-in-part of my application, Ser. No. 645,644, filed June 13, 1967, now US. Pat. No.

f3l,421,737,issued Jan. 14, 1969, and titled BALANCING I-IOIST. This invention relates to a control system and mechanism for operating and controlling a balancing hoist containing a fluid pressure-operated member for balancing -a load supported by the hoist. A hoist of this general type is disclosed in '8. Pat. No. 3,286,989 granted Nov. 22, 196.6

SUMMARY OF INVENTION .The principal object of this invention is to provide a fluid control system which is relatively simple, reliable, safe and economical to use.

- Other important objects of this invention are: to provide a novel hand-operated control mechanism for operating a lance hoist; to provide a control mechanism which is relatively simple to operate; and to provide a control mechanism which is economicalto manufacture and reliable to use.

' 'I'ln general, the foregoing objects are attained in a fluid control mechanism including a casing adapted to be grasped by an operator and including a chamber and a number of ports leading into the chamber with at least one port being connected to the mechanism being controlled and another serving as an exhaust port. A flexible member is slidably housed within the chamber and has resilient lips engaging the walls of the chamber. The flexible member is movable between several positions to interconnect a variety of the.ports to the port con- .hcted to the controlled mechanism. The flexible member is cup-shaped and has openings in each of its faces to interconheat the ports. The flexible member is moved between its posi- -.tions by a handle having a ring encircling the flexible member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING This invention is described in-connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a balance hoist connected to a manual control member which is shown in elevation and illus- .trates a control system incorporating the concepts of this invention;

"FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view with portions being cut away and shown in section of the control 'rnember shown in FIG. 1;

- FIGS. 3 to 5 are sections taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2 and :Zsh'owing the control device of FIG. 2 in each of its three posi- DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT EMBODIMENT The balancing hoist 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes an outer casing 2 which may be supported on a suitable overhead support, a'hoist drum 5 contained in the casing 2 and a hoisting cable 6 "wound on the drum with a portion depending from the drum through an open slot formed in the casing 2. All of the foregoing structure is conventional in the hoist art, as shown in the -U.S. Pat. No. 3,286,986.

"The hoist casing 2 contains an .intemal cylindrical bore 9 "which is capped at its opposite ends by a right end wall 10 and left end wall 11. The drum 5 is mounted in the bore 9 to rotate and move axially thereinf The drum 5 contains an internal cavity 12 which is closed at the leftend of the drum by an end "wall 14. The drum S cioperates with thecasing Zand the right end wall 10 of the casing 2 to form a closed air chamber 15 therebetween. It is easily seen that the introduction of pneumatic pressure into the air chamber 15 will urge the drum 5 to the left in the casing 2, as shown in FIG. 1.

The interior of the drum 5 is provided with an internal helical thread 24 engaged by a groupof three rollers 25 which are pivoted on bolts 26 mounted on the inner end of ajbracket 27 formed integrally on the right end wall 10 of the casing 2. The

bracket 27 projects concentrically inward from the right end wall 10 in the bore 9 and is sufficiently small to fit into the cavity 12 of the drum 5. The rollers 25 include ball bearings 28 to reduce friction. The rollers25 have tapered or conical peripheries 29'ahd are mounted on axes arranged at acute angles to the axis of the bore'9. The rollers 25 have a nearly pure rolling action on the surface of the thread 24, thus minimizing the sliding of the rollers 25. The rollers 25 are located near a vertical plane extending through the slot in the casing 2 so they will support the drum 5 substantially in a vertical plane extending through the slot, through which the hoist cable 6extends. As a result, pneumatic pressure in the air chamber 15 will act to urge the drum 5 toward the left as shown in FIG. 1 and to wind up the cable 6. The helical thread 24 on the interior of the drum 5 is arranged so that the drum will wind up the hoisting cable as it moves to the left as shown in FIG. 1.

The exterior of the drum 5 includes a helical groove 30 for containing the hoisting cable 6. The helix of the groove 30 has the same direction of rotation as the thread 24. Preferably, the pitch or distance between adjacent turns of the groove 30 is the same as the pitch of the helical thread 24 on the inside of the drum 5. This relationship will maintain the depending portion of the cable 6 in a stationary vertical planeas the drum 5 moves back and forth in the casing 2 during the unwinding or winding of the hoist cable. 6. Since the rollers 25 support the drum near the verticalplane extending through-thedepending portion of the cable 6, there will be little or no force on the drum tending to tilt it in the bore 9.

The exterior of the hoist drum.5 contains a seal 31 for sealing the'clearance between the drum 5 and the interior of the bore 9 to prevent leakage from the air chamber 15. The

reference number 32 and 33 indicate bearing buttons composed of antifriction material.

The overall system for operating the balance hoist l is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 7. A suitable air supply 36 is connected by a line 37 to the inlet 38 of a pilot-operated pressure regulator 39. The regulator 39 should be able to relieve or bleed down at a high rate. The air supply 36provides an air pressure of relatively high pressure, say 100 p.s.i. The outlet 40 of the regulator 39 is connected to the air chamber 15 of the balance hoist l. The regulator 39 also has a pilot air port 41 adapted to receive a pilot air pressure which is normally less than the pressure of the air supply 36. The regulator 39 delivers and maintains an air pressure in theoutlet 40 in accordance with the pilot air pressure applied to the port 41.

A line 43 interconnects the air supply 36 to the pilot air port occur if the pressure dropped substantially in the air supply A pendant control member 48 -is connected to the pilot air port 41 by an air hose 4 9. The pendant control member 48 vents or air exhausts the air pressure at the port 41 at a controlled rate to maintain the pilot pressure at a predetermined selected value. The pendant, control member 48 includesmeans for selecting a plurality of pilot air pressures.

The pendant control member 48 includes a body-comprising a head 50 and a hand grip 51 depending from the head 50. The hose 4.9 'is connected to an inlet passage 52 opening into a valve chamber 53 formed in the head. The floor ofthe valvechamber .53 is connectedv to an exhaust passage-54 which.

opens into a-hollowSS in the hand grip 51. The hollow 55 is open at the lower end of the hand grip 51, thus allowing the exhaust passage 54 to vent to the atmosphere.

The top of the valve chamber 53 includes a pair of bleed passages 57 and 58 extending to respective diaphragm valves 59 and 60. Each diaphragm valve closes and opens a vent passage 61 and includes a spring 62 and an adjusting screw 63 for varying the tension on the spring 62 to vary the pressure magnitude under which the diaphragm valve opens and closes. The operation of the diaphragm valves 59 and 60 is conventional. Hence, it is believed that it is only necessary to explain that the pressure in the bleed passages 57 and 58 is substantially balanced by the spring 62 on top of the diaphragm valve. If a balance is not present, the valve automatically opens or closes sufficiently to lower or raise the pressure until the proper balancing pressure is achieved. Normally, the screws 63 of the two diaphragm valves 59 and 60 will be adjusted to create two different balance pressures.

The valve chamber 53 contains a cup-shaped valve 65 of flexible material such as Teflon. The valve 65 has a top opening 66 surrounded by an inwardly and upwardly converging rim or lips 67 which engages the top or ceiling of the valve chamber 53 and seals the interior of the valve 65 from its exterior. In addition, the bottom of the valve 65 resiliently engages the floor of the valve chamber 53 to seal the interior of the valve 65 from its exterior. The bottom of the valve 65 contains a small axially positioned hole 68.

FIGS. 3 to illustrate that the cup valve 65 is movable to three different positions. In FIG. 1, the valve 65 interconnects the inlet passage 52 to the exhaust passage 54 by having its bottom hole 68 aligned with the exhaust passage 54. FIGS. 3 to 5 show the passages 52, 54, 57 and 58 in dotted lines to illustrate their positions relative to the valve 65.

In FIG. 4 the valve is moved to a midposition wherein it is no longer open to the exhaust passage 54. As a result, the inlet passage 52 is open to the bleed passage 58 whereby the diaphragm valve 60 controls the pressure in the inlet passage In FIG. 5, the cup valve 65 is moved to the third position wherein the inlet passage 52 is connected to the bleed passage '57 of the diaphragm valve 59. In this third position, the bleed passage 58 is disconnected from the inlet passage 52.

The cup valve 65 is shifted between the foregoing positions by a ring 71 which loosely circles the cup valve 65 and is pivoted in the valve chamber 53 on a pin 72. The ring 71 includes an integral handle 73 extending from the head 50 of the pendant control 48 for pivoting the ring 71 about its pivot pin 72.

As shown in FIG. 1, the handle 73 of the valve shifter'ring 71 extends through a substantially Z-shaped slot 74 which controls and allows the handle to be shifted to its three positions. A spring 75 presses down on the portion of the ring 71 pivoted on the pin 72 so that the handle 73 nonnally remains in the upper portion of the Z-shaped slot 74. Thus, the slot 74 prevents the handle from being accidentally moved to the full exhaust position shown in FIG. 3. In order to move the handle 73 to the FIG. 3 position, the operator must press downward on the handle 73 against the spring 75 and then shift the handle to the right in the lower leg of the Z-shaped slot 74.

SECOND EMBODIMENT gs I A second embodiment 80 of the pendant control member is shown in FIG. 8. This embodiment differs from the first embodiment in having a two-part flexible valve member 81 housed in the valve chamber 53. The flexible valve member 81 includes a pair of cylindrical cups 82 and 83 having telescoping circumferential sides. Each of the cups 82 and 83 includes a rim of lips 84 circling an opening and slidably engaging the walls of the chamber 53 to seal the interior of the cups from the exterior. The telescoping cups 82 and 83 house a compression spring 85 which engages the inside of the lips 84 and urges the cups 82 and 83 apart against the walls of the valve chamber 53. The use of the telescoping cups 82 and 83 allows the flexible valve member to accommodate greater variations in the size of the chamber 53 than'is possible with the first embodiment of the flexible valve member 65, shown in FIG- Although two embodiments of the invention are illustrated and described in detail, it should be understood that the invention is not limited merely to these embodiments, but contemplates other embodiments and variations which utilize the concepts and teachings of this invention.

lclaim:

1. A control member having a valve movable to several positions to apply a variety of control pressures to a fluid operated mechanism such as a hoist and including:

a body containing a chamber and a plurality of ports leading into said. chamber with at least one of said ports being connected to the controlled mechanism and another being an exhaust passage;

a flexible member slidably housed in said chamber and having lips resiliently urged against the walls of said chamber, said flexible member being movable to a plurality of positions within said chamber to interconnect a variety of said ports to the port connected to said controlled mechanism, said flexible member being cup-shaped and having an opening in its bottom adapted to be connected to said exhaust passage; and

2. The control member of claim 1 wherein: said control member includes a hand grip portion adapted to be grasped by an operators hand and containing said exhaust passage which opens out the bottom end of the hand grip portion.

3. The control member of claim 1 wherein: said flexible member includes a pair of cup-shaped elements which are slidably telescoped together and a spring enclosed within said cup-shaped elements urging them apart against the walls of said chamber.

4. The control member of claim 3 wherein: each cup-shaped element includes an opening in its outer face engaging the wall of said chamber witheach opening being rimmed by said lips. 

